By: Diane Benjamin
The meeting, including Township before Council, was over 3 hours. Your representatives look ridiculous behind masks. Normal doesn’t wear them at Council meetings, citizens deserve to see your faces!
Of course the camera operator makes seeing faces difficult since it always isn’t in the right location. It was much more fun seeing everybody at once on zoom. Council could all sit in their new location on zoom and the camera person wouldn’t be needed. It was especially fun watching Mboka and Tim from their shoulders to their hips during the Pledge. Was the camera angle to not show who wasn’t participating? 29:43
Microphone problems have plagued speakers at the podium since they went back to meeting in person in the Government Center. Can you guys get that fixed? I wonder if Tim Gleason knows none of his slides during his City Manager comments were on video? They always have been in the past.
Greg Koos showed up at Public Comment since Historic Preservation was on the agenda. He mentioned Bring It On Bloomington, yes the City is still using that survey even though very few people participated. https://blnnews.com/2014/09/19/bring-it-on-bloomington-flops/
Koos got even funnier when he claimed the City has to protect District 87’s tax base. Meanwhile Unit 5 is close to surrounding the City because somebody years ago decided District 87 won’t take all Bloomington kids. Regret that now 87? Bloomington residents have to fund old neighborhoods because District 87 made a bad decision and land locked themselves?
Greg next got really funny, before his mic died, the rest of his comments didn’t make it to video. He was in the process of conveying how climate scientists agree old buildings should be re-used instead of new construction that produces unnecessary carbon outlays. I wonder what the heating and cooling bills are at the McLean County History Museum. Better than new construction or MUCH worse?
A lady spoke next about Gleason’s raise, especially the change that sends his car allowance to his retirement account. She also talked about the Council handing their power to the Mayor and City Manager to sign documents. The Council barely discussed it before passing it. They justified it because construction could be held up. Can’t call a special meeting? Emergency meeting? Why are aldermen needed? waiting . . waiting . . .
She stated they were giving up her ability to be heard through the people who represent her. She is 100% right. She also wanted the timeline for sewer separation moved up even more.
The last speaker talked about the video gaming ordinance. He stated the ordinance changes would put licenses in the hands of unelected officials (economic development department) and make them susceptible to underhanded tactics or bribes. Later in the meeting it was stated the Council would have the final approval on any new licenses, but does anybody believe the majority of the Council would vote no if some huge project was brought to them that would crash and burn without video gaming?
Just hit play to hear what public comment is on video. After Koos they switched to a different mic.
You can review the monthly financial report yourself. Unlike Normal, Bloomington is transparent: https://www.cityblm.org/home/showpublisheddocument/26983
Video gaming and cannabis revenue aren’t listed however. Hotel/Motel tax is at 190% of budget with 3 months reported. Of course it was probably budgeted low because of COVID. Rivian is likely helping out here.
“Greg next got really funny, before his mic died, the rest of his comments didn’t make it to video. He was in the process of conveying how climate scientists agree old buildings should be re-used instead of new construction that produces unnecessary carbon outlays.” EXCEPT back in the day when he was pushing for form based code for his pos brother/mayor of normal. The poS runs in the family.
Following Greg Koos’ logic of old buildings should be re-used instead of new construction, let’s cancel the transfer station and instead use the (many) vacant buildings Downtown as bus stations for riders to shelter during bad climate weather. Bring It On Bloomington was a self-serving survey that likely hand-selected its participants and/or engaged in some “hometown scoring.” To the extent it was ever really relevant, it’s not been cited or discussed for years now.
Greg Koos is just a another in a long line of BN self-absorbed and self-anointed “leaders” that think everything out of their mouths is important and relevant. If he was a real historian, he wouldn’t have spent his entire life manning a broken down history museum about a Illinois rural county shoved into a few dusty rooms in an old courthouse. He would have been writing and lecturing about real and significant history and not about a place that never reached its full potential. Like most in BN, he knew the right people who gave him a non-discript public position in a non-discript community where he was no more qualified than any other person in the field. The guy is a certified goofball with a handlebar mustache that pawned himself off as some type of intellectual that thought he was smarter than anyone he interacted with. These people are beyond their useful BS shelf life and should take their public supported retirement money and ride off into the sunset. The acts are beyond tired. Feel sorry for any taxpayer that still lives there and has still be subjected to the daily garbage that these frauds continue to regurgitate.
MPEABODY, you hit the KOOS on the head! Not only is Greg a money sucking incompetent “historian wannabe” but WHAT has he done to REALLY PROMOTE the museum? Bill Kemp wrote weekly articles in the Pantagraph that were well researched, while koos just waxed his facial hair. Probably a trait learned from family-goof offs, act important and DEMAND respect! I COULD expound on this and “respected citizens” but I won’t.
What ever happened to Joy Luke? Hummmm..
I never heard of Joy but if she was a threat to Greg’s career she was likely unceremoniously tossed to the side by Greg and the board. It’s standard operating procedure by the local Clique, have them do your work, take the credit then come up with something to get rid of them if they become too popular with the community. I’ll give Chris Koos credit for his military service but always had the feeling he thought everyone owed him something for Viet Nam other than respect for his service but I digress. Greg Koos is no different than a Julie Dobski, Mike Matekja, John Penn, Barry Reilly, university or college president or some other member of a local board or company president that thinks they are so more tuned in to what’s going on than the average citizen. Many will never know how people lke these influenced real economic diversity and growth to the negative in BN. Most of the so- called influencers and decision makers there were never that bright, acted against the interest of the many, and made uniformed and careless decisions to the detriment of BN’s future. They all liked being the big fish in the smallest of ponds. It was more important to be fawned over and appear in the newspaper than doing the right thing.
Joy Luke used to deal in antiques and auctions. I don’t know where she went.